The Los Angeles Dodgers may have done more than add baseball’s best pitcher when they acquired Tarik Skubal. They also prevented their greatest National League challenger from landing him.

Milwaukee was widely considered the Dodgers’ strongest competition for Skubal, and the Brewers made a serious attempt to acquire the reigning two-time American League Cy Young winner.

According to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, Milwaukee offered Detroit three position-player prospects, including shortstop Luis Peña, MLB Pipeline’s No. 18 overall prospect. At least one of the other players was also considered a top-100 talent.

On paper, that proposal looks comparable, if not superior, to the Dodgers’ package of outfielder Zyhir Hope and right-handers River Ryan and Brady Smith. Peña ranks ahead of Hope and Ryan on several public prospect lists.

Trades, however, are not automatically awarded to the team offering the highest-ranked prospect.

Detroit reportedly wanted controllable pitching capable of contributing quickly. That requirement gave Los Angeles an advantage through Ryan, a 27-year-old starter who could enter the Tigers’ rotation this month. Hope supplied a high-upside position player, while Smith added another young arm.

Milwaukee’s initial proposal consisted entirely of hitters. The Tigers already possess a potential franchise shortstop in Kevin McGonigle, which may have made Peña less attractive than an MLB-ready pitcher.

Teams reportedly expressed interest in Brewers right-hander Logan Henderson, but it remains unclear whether Milwaukee included him in its strongest proposal. Top prospect Jesús Made was considered unavailable.

Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio confirmed that Milwaukee stretched beyond its usual comfort zone in pursuing Skubal, even if the result did not reflect that aggression.

“Matt [Arnold] and his group, they did a lot to get Skubal and went way out of their typical approach,” Attanasio said on Brewers TV. “But it’s binary. You can only have one winner, and the Detroit Tigers picked the package they thought was best for them.”

Milwaukee may have believed its offer carried greater prospect value. Detroit’s decision showed that the Dodgers’ package better matched what the Tigers actually wanted.

Hall of Famer CC Sabathia believes the consequences could extend into October.

“The number one thing I thought about was how the Brewers kind of blew it,” Sabathia said. “I felt like [Los Angeles] was the only spot that he could go to that would ruin the Brewers’ season.”

Milwaukee entered the deadline with baseball’s best record and a legitimate opportunity to challenge Los Angeles for National League supremacy. Instead of acquiring Skubal, the Brewers added Dustin May, JoJo Romero and Antonio Senzatela.

Those moves strengthened Milwaukee’s depth, but none provides the postseason advantage Skubal would have offered.

The Dodgers can now construct a playoff rotation featuring Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and potentially Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow. Just as importantly, they ensured Skubal will not start against them in a possible National League Championship Series.

The Brewers did not miss Skubal because they refused to compete. They missed him because Los Angeles constructed the offer Detroit valued most.

For the Dodgers, winning the sweepstakes accomplished two objectives: They added an ace capable of deciding a postseason series and denied their strongest challenger the opportunity to do the same.